Music & Song in Spiritual Care Support Groups
In chaplaincy, music is an underutilized modality. Even if you are not musical, I encourage you - support group facilitators and chaplains - to creatively weave music in and out of spiritual care support sessions, which I believe enhances the healing space. Opportunities for chaplains to integrate music include the following (but are not limited by these): celebration of life memorials, spiritual care support groups, and spiritual care support huddles with healthcare staff. In these gatherings, I encourage you to see yourself as an informal liturgist. While most of the resource topics below pertain mainly to spiritual care support groups, the ideas can still be adapted in other spiritual care support contexts.
On Grief, Music & Science
One of the main characteristics of grief is movement. Those who study grief say that the grief journey is rarely a straight line; instead it moves through many twists and turns. In this labyrinthine path, music supports the movement of feelings and emotions in grief. Music enables the person journeying through grief the space to feel their own feelings and glimpse emotions hidden and bubbling underneath. Music not only taps into hidden feelings but also hidden memories. A kind of timelessness happens in music. It helps us remember and reconnect with our sacred past in the present moment. In fact, music has been shown to tap into deep memories of those with dementia. Worth watching on this topic are videos of a couple of dementia patients: a former ballerina in her 90's and a musician who somehow come back to life when caregivers play the music they used to perform in their younger days. While music is not a quick fix healing modality, I see it as a significant tool among many tools to support healing processes in grief. Here are a few articles on the topic of music & grief:
On Music, Dance & Peacebuilding
Below are writings, articles, podcasts & videos of how music is used to build peace in community.
Community Singing
My practice of music in spiritual care support groups is shaped by Music that Makes Community - a nonprofit organization that values the healing power of community singing through paperless singing. For this reason, music in my spiritual care groups are not supposed to be performative, but rather a community endeavor, inviting participants to help in creating music.
The Task of Drawing Out Meaning
In the spiritual care support groups that I lead, I pick musical chants or prayerful songs with lyrics that are are thematically connected with the wisdom story of the day. While some songs come from religious traditions (say, gospels/spirituals), many are from the contemporary pop genre. Usually a song's lyrics, as poetry, have nuance and multivalence for participants to reflect introspectively. After a song is sung I invite participants to engage in an informal lectio divina (ie, name a word, phrase or image that resonates with the listener) so they can reflect about the archetypal themes and metaphors of the song (this article talks about the use of poetry in spiritual care).
Levels of Meaning Making: In terms of finding meaning, it is important to have full flexibility on how participants draw out meaning from the poetry of the lyrics.
(1) LEVEL 1: No meaning
It is worth noting that sometimes participants may not find any meaning at all, and that's OK (in Godly Play we say, "Sometimes a wisdom story is hard to open, and that is OK because you can always come back to it at a later time until that story opens up to you"). Sometimes a participant may choose not to articulate what they are processing - that is OK as well.
(2) LEVEL 2: Noticing our affective response/reaction
The second level may involve participants simply naming an image, word, or phrase (or archetypal theme/metaphor) that resonates with them. Following the values of the practice of lectio divina, participants are not obligated to explain any reason why a word or phrase is resonating with them. This awareness or noticing is at the affective level, not at the cognitive level.
(3) LEVEL 3: Cognitive response (aka theological)
If participants articulate theological connections, the intent of the group is to allow a plurality of interpretations. Nuance, multiple meanings, multivalence, and multidimensionality are central exegetical values in spiritual care support groups.
Know Your Participants
In my spiritual support group sessions, I diversify the selection of music or songs so that I have the choice to lean towards a genre that my participants are able to connect with. For instance, I utilize a lot of songs from Pixar films and relatively contemporary pop songs when I lead an adolescent group. When I sense that a significant number of the participants have a Christian religious background, sometimes I pull out adapted hymns, spirituals and praise songs from praise bands. (By "adapting" I mean changing the lyrics to some degree so that the song is palatable to those with no religious background, aka "nones", or those who might have traumatic religious baggage. For example, I might offer participants the opportunity to replace the word "Lord" or "God" with "Love").
Lead by Singing, or Use an App
If you sing and know how to play a guitar, and consider yourself an amateur musician, I recommend that you lead community singing yourself. As I have learned from the organization "Music that Makes Community," there is power and energy in live music that recorded music cannot replicate. If you are not a musician/singer, you may use a music app (say, your smart phone) to offer music to the group. A well selected music/song (even if it is recorded) that complements the spiritual theme of the wisdom story enriches the participant's experience of the spiritual care group session. In some ways, I see the role of a small group facilitator as a kind of an informal liturgist, one who creatively weaves word, music and art to engage the heart and spirit.
Meditative Music (Sound) without Lyrics
I also invite facilitators to use meditative sound or music as a way for participants to ground themselves or to self-regulate. I use the flute and a bell for couple of minutes in the beginning or end of the session, so participants can have an intentional space to breathe and/or be silent. There are many calming musical selections on youtube that you can choose from.
On Grief, Music & Science
One of the main characteristics of grief is movement. Those who study grief say that the grief journey is rarely a straight line; instead it moves through many twists and turns. In this labyrinthine path, music supports the movement of feelings and emotions in grief. Music enables the person journeying through grief the space to feel their own feelings and glimpse emotions hidden and bubbling underneath. Music not only taps into hidden feelings but also hidden memories. A kind of timelessness happens in music. It helps us remember and reconnect with our sacred past in the present moment. In fact, music has been shown to tap into deep memories of those with dementia. Worth watching on this topic are videos of a couple of dementia patients: a former ballerina in her 90's and a musician who somehow come back to life when caregivers play the music they used to perform in their younger days. While music is not a quick fix healing modality, I see it as a significant tool among many tools to support healing processes in grief. Here are a few articles on the topic of music & grief:
- Six Ways Music Helps With Grief
- Using Music to Help with Grief (*this link has excellent list of grief-themed songs)
- The Groove of Recovery: A Qualitative Study of How People Diagnosed with Psychosis Experience Music Therapy
- The Effects of Music of Music Therapy on Individuals Suffering from Psychiatric Disorders
- How Music Affects People with Psychosis
- The Impact of Music Therapy on Mental Health
- Science and Culture: At the nexus of music and medicine: In this article the author investigates the current research in neuroscience on the use of music in the healing process of patients, especially its ability to ease anxiety.
- Music As Medicine: The Impact of Healing Harmonies (from the Harvard Medical School): This article highlights the scientific research on music as a healing modality.
- Music in Emergency and Trauma Care Toolkit: How to use music in the medical environment.
On Music, Dance & Peacebuilding
Below are writings, articles, podcasts & videos of how music is used to build peace in community.
- Book: Music and Peacebuilding: African and Latin American Experiences
- Book: Sounding Conflict: From Resistance to Reconciliation
- Book: When Blood & Bones Cry Out: Journeys through Soundscape of Healing & Reconcilation
- Music Can Help Us Understand Peace and Conflict | David LaMotte | TEDxAsheville
- Music & Peacebuilding Podcasts
- Building Peace Through Music
- Music Violence & Peacebuilding
- Processes of Music & Peacebuilding
Community Singing
My practice of music in spiritual care support groups is shaped by Music that Makes Community - a nonprofit organization that values the healing power of community singing through paperless singing. For this reason, music in my spiritual care groups are not supposed to be performative, but rather a community endeavor, inviting participants to help in creating music.
The Task of Drawing Out Meaning
In the spiritual care support groups that I lead, I pick musical chants or prayerful songs with lyrics that are are thematically connected with the wisdom story of the day. While some songs come from religious traditions (say, gospels/spirituals), many are from the contemporary pop genre. Usually a song's lyrics, as poetry, have nuance and multivalence for participants to reflect introspectively. After a song is sung I invite participants to engage in an informal lectio divina (ie, name a word, phrase or image that resonates with the listener) so they can reflect about the archetypal themes and metaphors of the song (this article talks about the use of poetry in spiritual care).
Levels of Meaning Making: In terms of finding meaning, it is important to have full flexibility on how participants draw out meaning from the poetry of the lyrics.
(1) LEVEL 1: No meaning
It is worth noting that sometimes participants may not find any meaning at all, and that's OK (in Godly Play we say, "Sometimes a wisdom story is hard to open, and that is OK because you can always come back to it at a later time until that story opens up to you"). Sometimes a participant may choose not to articulate what they are processing - that is OK as well.
(2) LEVEL 2: Noticing our affective response/reaction
The second level may involve participants simply naming an image, word, or phrase (or archetypal theme/metaphor) that resonates with them. Following the values of the practice of lectio divina, participants are not obligated to explain any reason why a word or phrase is resonating with them. This awareness or noticing is at the affective level, not at the cognitive level.
(3) LEVEL 3: Cognitive response (aka theological)
If participants articulate theological connections, the intent of the group is to allow a plurality of interpretations. Nuance, multiple meanings, multivalence, and multidimensionality are central exegetical values in spiritual care support groups.
Know Your Participants
In my spiritual support group sessions, I diversify the selection of music or songs so that I have the choice to lean towards a genre that my participants are able to connect with. For instance, I utilize a lot of songs from Pixar films and relatively contemporary pop songs when I lead an adolescent group. When I sense that a significant number of the participants have a Christian religious background, sometimes I pull out adapted hymns, spirituals and praise songs from praise bands. (By "adapting" I mean changing the lyrics to some degree so that the song is palatable to those with no religious background, aka "nones", or those who might have traumatic religious baggage. For example, I might offer participants the opportunity to replace the word "Lord" or "God" with "Love").
Lead by Singing, or Use an App
If you sing and know how to play a guitar, and consider yourself an amateur musician, I recommend that you lead community singing yourself. As I have learned from the organization "Music that Makes Community," there is power and energy in live music that recorded music cannot replicate. If you are not a musician/singer, you may use a music app (say, your smart phone) to offer music to the group. A well selected music/song (even if it is recorded) that complements the spiritual theme of the wisdom story enriches the participant's experience of the spiritual care group session. In some ways, I see the role of a small group facilitator as a kind of an informal liturgist, one who creatively weaves word, music and art to engage the heart and spirit.
Meditative Music (Sound) without Lyrics
I also invite facilitators to use meditative sound or music as a way for participants to ground themselves or to self-regulate. I use the flute and a bell for couple of minutes in the beginning or end of the session, so participants can have an intentional space to breathe and/or be silent. There are many calming musical selections on youtube that you can choose from.
Possible Song Selections for Community Singing
The song list below is a work in progress. I hope that some of them are songs that you can utilize in your groups, or spark ideas of songs that are not on this list.
My Musical Compositions
The Growing Seed: Lyrics/Chords
The Sea of Life: Lyrics/Chords
Come Healing Breath: Lyrics/Chords
The Pearl Merchant's Song: Lyrics/Chords
Change Us with Your Leaven: Lyrics/Chords
Turn (Churn): Lyrics/Chords
Songs & Chants by Various Artists/Composers
Shalom My Friend (Peace)
Peace Salaam Shalom (Peace)
Peace Before Us (Peace)
In Beauty Happily I Walk (Navajo: Pollen Path)
Holy Holiness (Seeing the Holy)
I Am Here in the Heart of Love (Love, Peace, Hope)
Open My Heart (Opening to Receive & Release)
Come Light of Lights into My Heart (Receiving)
For All These Blessings (Gratitude)
The Only Way Through Is Through (The Journey)
This Is Home Where I Belong (Mindfulness)
Dwelling in the Present Moment (Mindfulness)
I'm Sending You Light (Healing)
Wider Circles (Community Gathering)
Come, Come Whoever You Are (Invitation to the Journey)
Wade In The Water (Invitation to Tread the Waters)
Drop the Oars (Going with the Currents)
Take My Hand Precious Lord (Asking for Help)
Honor the Dark (Honoring the Difficult Process)
I Planted Seeds and Nothing Came Up (Waiting, Growth)
Do Small Things with Great Love (The Act of Love)
Hope is Deeper Than Despair (Hope)
Shepherd Me (Journey Towards New Life)
Remember Me "Recuerdame" (Grief)
Across the Seas Storms May Go (On Stormy Seas)
The Lord Bless You & Keep You (Blessing/Benediction)
Light Chant (Elisa Keeler)
Every Part of Me (Elisa Keeler)
Holy Fire (Jeremy Camp)
The River of Life (Marcus & Marketo)
One Voice (Wailin' Jennys) - companions
Storm Comin (Wailin' Jennys) - weathering the storm
All the Stars (Wailin' Jennys) - sunlight/healing/growing seeds
Beautiful Dawn (Wailin' Jennys) - mending broken hearts
Bird Song (Wailin' Jennys) - hope/towards renewal
Churning of the Ocean (Markandeya) - ocean journey
Flood (Jars of Clay) - surviving the deep waters
Recommended Songs by Pop Artists
Sacred Space (India Arie) - affirming sacred presence
Hallelujah (Alicia Keys)
Jerusalema (Master KG)
It's OK (NightBirde) - permission to be lost & disoriented
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (U2) - the long search
Where the Streets Have No Name (U2) Karaoke
One U2
Wandering (James Taylor) - searching, journeying, twists and turns. Karaoke
How Far I'll Go (Moana by Pixar - song by Lin-manuel Miranda) - the call to go to the deep waters
Lean On Me (Bill Withers) - social support
You've Got a Friend (James Taylor) - social support
You've Got A Friend in Me - Toy Story (Randy Newman)
Won't You Be My Neighbor (Mr Rogers) Guitar chords - on loving our neighbor, welcoming the stranger
I'll Be There (Escape Club) guitar chords (Fish in the Ocean) - divine presence in our journey
I See the Light (Tangled by Pixar - song by Alan Irwin Menken / Glenn Evan Slater)
Firework (Katie Perry) - hope/moving towards the light, owning your light
Roar (Katie Perry) - claiming our power
Rise Up (Andra Day) - on hope
Let It Go - Frozen (Kristen Anderson-Lopez / Robert Lopez) - Trashcan Tool
Shout (Tears for Fears) - on giving voice - letting out what's deep in us & not keep things in. Karaoke
Shake It Off (Taylor Swift) - Trashcan Tool
Show Yourself (Kristen Anderson-Lopez / Robert Lopez)
Circle of Life (Elton John)
For Good (from musical "Wicked") - affirming the gift of relationships
Imagine (John Lennon)
Overcomer (Mandisa) (guitar tutorial)
Good Morning (Mandisa)
Misty Mountains Cold - for story: Dragon in the Cave
You Say (Lauren Daigle) - Love / Affirmation / Support
Because You Loved Me (Celine Dion) - Love / Affirmation / Support
Never Enough (guitar tutorial)
Love is a Wild Thing
It's OK (Feeling Lost)
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by U2 (Searching)
Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars - start at 28:00 (Affirming our Belovedness)
I See Your True Colors (Guitar Chords ) by Justin Timberlake & Anna Kendrick (Affirming our Belovedness)
Dancing In the Dark (Rihanna)
Monster (Rihanna & Eminem) - Mental Health Struggle
Free Mind (Tems) *Karaoke - Mental Health Struggle
Meant to Be (Lemon City) - confronting ghosts of the past that come back to visit us
Graveyard (Halsey) - when we follow the dark road / unhealthy relationships
Come to This (Natalie Taylor) - Mental Health Struggle asking the light to come back
My Heart Will Go On (Celine Dion) - Grief
Goodbye (Lionel Richie) - Remembering / Grief
Beautiful Scars (Maximillian) - Perfect Imperfections
You Raise Me Up (Josh Groban) - Companionship
One Sweet Day (Boyz 2 Men & Mariah Carey)
When You Believe (Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston) - Hope
Through the Rain (Mariah Carey) - Surviving the storm
Melodies from Heaven (Kirk Franklin) - melodies from heaven rain down on me
Rain (SWV) - Receiving Love
I'm Singing in the Rain (Gene Kelly) - Dance & singing in the rain/storm
No Time To Die (Billie Eilish) - Ending Toxic Relationships
I Don't Feel No Ways Tired (James Cleveland)
Hold You Tight (Dan Bremnes) - Light, Companionship in the Dark
You Belong To Me (Grey Holiday) - God's Invitation for us to come to the light
Every Part of Me (Lea Morris & Elisa Keeler) - Heart, Roots, Breath
The River (Garth Brook)
River of Dreams (Billy Joel) guitar chords
Let There Be Peace On Earth (Sy Miller/Jill Jackson)
What A Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
Less of Me (Glen Campbell) - Emptying
Where Do I Go (Amy Grant) - Seeking Help
Breathe (Marie Barnett) - Breath, Holy Presence
Love Me More (Sam Smith) - guitar chords
Grateful (Rita Ora) - gratitude for the struggle, process
River (Leon Bridges) - for story River of Life
Soulbird Rise (India Arie) - for story "Bird in Golden Cage" Chords
As You Fly (Regina Price) - "Bird in Golden Cage"
Everyone Sang (Siegfried Sassoon) - "Bird in Golden Cage"
Depends on How You See It - for story "The Old Farmer..."
Intro song: Spirit's Calling (Beautiful Chorus)
There Will Be A Light (Ben Harper) - Guitar Chords
Yellow (Coldplay)
Carry You (Ruelle) - Seeking Support & Divine Presence
I Am Already Enough (Fearless Soul) - Journey, Search for meaning, self-acceptance
Fix You (Cold Play) God's help, guiding light
Human (Rag'n'Bone Man) - affirming our human limitations
Wonder I (Little Moon) - existential questions about the mystery of our human journey
Healing Songs at https://www.abreathofsong.com/
